I bought a bare bones dehumidifier. However I need to add a condensate pump to it to pump the water to a sink. There are many brands/models of condensate pump, I'm interested in the ones with an overflow safety switch so I can turn off the dehumidifier in case the pump fails.
These safety switches are float-activated micro switches and are not rated to switch a dehumidifier (120V 7A).
I would have to add a switching relay like this:
Since this is a mechanical device (relay), it is bound to generate arc and the contacts are bound to fail. More so if the load is inductive.
Also, the dehumidifier along with this device is placed in a sealed crawlspace with natural gas pipe running though. In the unlikely case event of a gas leak, I prefer there be no arc generating switches
Would it be better to use a TRIAC to switch this appliance? Something like this:
The triac is even cheaper than the relay module. Are there reasons not to use the triac? I understand the triac would have a voltage drop of about 1 volt, in this case amounts to 7W, which is no big deal and probably needs a small heat sink.
And if I do use triac, what rating should I get? It's not just 120V 7A. If the load is inductive, I would need a higher rating, but not sure how high.